Cars 2 DVD review

WHY would they make Cars 2?

The 2006 original did not break any box-office records. It is not remembered as a Pixar classic in the same way as Toy Story or Ratatouille. There were no loose ends still to be resolved.

Then a colleague shed some light on the mystery by informing me that Cars shifted billions of dollars worth of merchandise.

That is a lot of toys in a lot of Christmas stockings.

Pixar isn’t the kind of company motivated by cynicism but you do feel that Cars 2 has been more of ­ a duty than a pleasure.

There is little of the energy and inventiveness that distinguishes its best work. Instead we have a perfectly roadworthy but half‑hearted piece of old-fashioned family entertainment.

The plot has little connection to the wistful nostalgic charm of Cars. There is none of the enjoyment of stepping back in time to a slice of faded Americana. The plot now has a good deal more in common with a globe-trotting, sub-par James Bond adventure from the Sixties.

Cars 2

Owen Wilson once again provides the voice of sleek red racing car Lightning McQueen but it is rusty, unsophisticated tow-truck pal Mater (Larry The Cable Guy) who hogs most of the limelight.

Back in the dusty desert town of Radiator Springs, Lightning is ready for some quality time with his gal Sally (Bonnie Hunt) when he is goaded into competing in the first World Grand Prix.

Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard) is the power behind an event intent on proving that gas-guzzling cars are heading the way of the dinosaurs and his Allinol is the safe, clean, environmentally friendly fuel of the future.

The first race is in Tokyo with Mater tagging along and playing the country bumpkin. He is also mistaken for an American secret service agent by British intelligence operative Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and his sidekick Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer).

They think his cover as a dumb hick is brilliantly sustained and soon he is helping them foil a dastardly international plot in which someone is targeting the drivers in the World Grand Prix and intent on discrediting Allinol.

You don’t need Sherlock Holmes to deduce the real villain.

Lightning has very little to do with most of this and the attempt to establish a rivalry with boastful Italian car Francesco (John Turturro) is only vaguely pursued.

The actors are given little chance to shine, although Turturro does add to the fun as the conceited, tutti-frutti nemesis.

Instead, we are faced with lots of quite boring chases and a plot that staggers on to Paris, Porto Corso on the picturesque Italian Riviera and a London that includes a race against time in the workings of Big Ben, double-decker buses and a spin around the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The rattle of machine-gun fire and a bit of torture along the way sit uncomfortably in a children’s film.

Every time the film touches down in a different country the animation perks up a little. The backdrops of familiar Parisian landmarks or sun-kissed bays in Italy are really rather charming but also underline the fact that none of the rest of the film is in any way special.

Ultimately, Cars 2 isn’t a bad film but it does have some deadly dull stretches and never hits top gear.